squirrel bait
06-08-2004, 06:46
Manassas VA (Associated Press)
A man once charged in the 1996 slayings of a lesbian couple in Shenandoah National Park was indicted Monday in a 1996 abduction in Prince William County. A Prince William County grand jury returned indictments for Darrell David Rice on charges of abduction with intent to defile, robbery and malicious wounding. Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert said the indictment of Rice stemmed from the police investigation of "the route 29 stalker," the person police say was responsible for a 1996 killing in Culpepper. A federal judge in Charlottesville dropped charges in February against Rice, 36, in the 1996 slayings of hikers Julianne Marie Williams of Minnesota and Laura S. Winans of Maine. In Prince William, Rice was indicted in the abduction of a 38-year-old-woman on Route 234. Police say the woman stopped her car about midnight on Feb. 26, 1996, after a man repeatedly flashed his lights and honked his horn at her. The man convinced her that sparks were coming from her car and that it was unsafe to drive, police said. The man offered her a ride and once in the vehicle, attempted to assualt her, police said. The woman escaped but suffered injuries. Ebert said Rice has been a suspect for years. He also said he believes Rice was the Route 29 stalker, whom police suspect tried to flag down more than two dozen women along the highway in 1996."All these crimes were committed by one individual," Ebert said. "Once he was arrested" in 1997, "they stopped." Rice is serving a prison sentance of aboout 11 years in the 1997 attempted abduction of a bicylist in Shenandoah National Park. Ebert said Rice, who has only been convicted in the bicyclist case, faces a maximum of three life sentences if convicted of all counts in Prince William County.
A man once charged in the 1996 slayings of a lesbian couple in Shenandoah National Park was indicted Monday in a 1996 abduction in Prince William County. A Prince William County grand jury returned indictments for Darrell David Rice on charges of abduction with intent to defile, robbery and malicious wounding. Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert said the indictment of Rice stemmed from the police investigation of "the route 29 stalker," the person police say was responsible for a 1996 killing in Culpepper. A federal judge in Charlottesville dropped charges in February against Rice, 36, in the 1996 slayings of hikers Julianne Marie Williams of Minnesota and Laura S. Winans of Maine. In Prince William, Rice was indicted in the abduction of a 38-year-old-woman on Route 234. Police say the woman stopped her car about midnight on Feb. 26, 1996, after a man repeatedly flashed his lights and honked his horn at her. The man convinced her that sparks were coming from her car and that it was unsafe to drive, police said. The man offered her a ride and once in the vehicle, attempted to assualt her, police said. The woman escaped but suffered injuries. Ebert said Rice has been a suspect for years. He also said he believes Rice was the Route 29 stalker, whom police suspect tried to flag down more than two dozen women along the highway in 1996."All these crimes were committed by one individual," Ebert said. "Once he was arrested" in 1997, "they stopped." Rice is serving a prison sentance of aboout 11 years in the 1997 attempted abduction of a bicylist in Shenandoah National Park. Ebert said Rice, who has only been convicted in the bicyclist case, faces a maximum of three life sentences if convicted of all counts in Prince William County.